


And the Moon Blessed.

by LostLine



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Jongin is like a fanboy of Baekhyun, Jongin knows how to enjoy the simple things, M/M, but Jongin himself is famous too, charming baekhyun, lots of kisses, no other things to be wary of, there's a very very brief mention of a suicide that happened a long time ago in history
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:55:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24359926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostLine/pseuds/LostLine
Summary: Jongin gets to meet Baekhyun, whom he admires very deeply, after one of his shows. Baekhyun is charming and polite, and he wonders if Jongin would like to come back to his place.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	And the Moon Blessed.

After the show, Jongin stood alone, away from the main light, and watched Byun Baekhyun. He was talking to the designer, right in the center of the large hall, uncaring of, or simply oblivious to the furtive gazes of so many that surrounded them. He held a glass of champagne but didn’t take a single sip, but just let it be there between his pretty hands. The designer was drinking heavily though, she finished her glass in one heavy shot after laughing heartily at whatever Byun Baekhyun said, and then took a new glass from a passing waiter. 

Then, Baekhyun noticed him. His gaze locked with Jongin’s for a moment, he smiled and then said something at the lady of the night.

The designer turned and waved at Jongin happily, and even in her should-be-at-least-tipsy state she quickly ran her eyes through his outfit. She was nodding as Jongin came by their side, apparently satisfied. 

“... wears it like nobody else. It’s been a while since I saw a talent like him — am I not right, baby?” she cooed. 

Jongin just smiled politely and bowed his head down. She tsked at that, like he wasn’t giving in to her pleas of a round of game.

“Always so polite, our Jonginnie. Have you met Baekhyun? You like him, don’t you?” she said and then added to Baekhyun. “He said he loved your songs ever since your debut days!”

“Really now?” Baekhyun said, eyes crinkling with amusement. He was much shorter than Jongin, but Jongin felt like somehow Baekhyun was looking at him from way way up. Jongin had met numerous successful and talented people thanks to his career, but he had never met someone who shined as bright as Baekhyun. He seemed to glow, he seemed to emit light from within. Everything seemed better when he was there. 

The designer finished her glass and blinked rapidly. “Whooh! I must be getting old,” she said and laughed deeply. She was one of those people. Soft, warm people who always laughed heartily and smelled good. 

She declared she saw someone she had to have a row with, and left Jongin alone with Baekhyun, but she did, however, not so discreetly, wink at Jongin and then pointed at Baekhyun with her chin. Like saying,  _ go for it _ . 

“She’s fun,” Baekhyun said and watched her go, her fluttery dress was all over the floor. Baekhyun was politely pretending like he didn’t notice a thing. “One of the few people who treat people right.”

“Yes,” Jongin said softly. Now that they were left alone, he was finding it much harder to look at Baekhyun, who seemed to have no problem like that though.

Baekhyun stepped closer to him. “Shall we walk? I hear there’s a lovely garden that opens up to a small labyrinth. I can use some fresh air to be honest.” Baekhyun wrinkled up his nose. “Hate the smell of cigarettes — Don’t even drink.”

Jongin could just nod and follow after Baekhyun. He ignored the curious gazes thrown at them.

Baekhyun waited for Jongin to catch up to him once they got outside, and then took a steady pace towards the garden. They passed by a small lake with dozens of ducks and swans. 

One of the swans aggressively flattered its wings at a duck. Baekhyun snorted. “Show off.” He said and took a pebble from the ground and threw it close to the swan, which got startled and swam away. The duck stuck its head inside the water and then came back out. Baekhyun took a handful of bird food from the feeder by the lake and threw it for the abused duck. More ducks and swans came, even the thug, but the duck managed to eat some.

“Shall we?” Baekhyun gestured towards the circular garden with dainty benches. Everything was covered with greens and flowers. The moon was almost full, the night was silent except for the distant sound of people’s chattering and the croaks of insects. It looked and felt like a spot of fairy tales. 

They took a short stroll in the garden before walking into the labyrinth, which felt cold and extremely silent. Jongin shivered slightly, wishing he hadn’t left his jacket inside.

Baekhyun must have noticed his discomfort. “I’d offer you mine, like a gentleman, but I’m afraid it would be a tad bit too small for you,” he said, smiling up at Jongin. 

“Then you’d be cold. Thank you, but I wouldn’t have taken up the offer even if we were the same size,” Jongin said. He glanced at Baekhyun and quickly looked straight ahead. 

Baekhyun, really, was much shorter and smaller than Jongin was, but why and how was it that Baekhyun felt so… powerful? So casually careless, like he already owned everyone?

Must be a thing you were born with, Jongin thought. He could act and get into a zone fairly easily when he was on stage, on the runway — out there he was Kai. But when the night was over, he was Jongin. Jongin who liked to stay at home and watch evil step-mothers stir up shit on TV.

“So, what do you like to do, Jongin-shi?” Baekhyun asked and then frowned. “Shall we drop the honorifics? You look my age.”

“Two years younger, actually,” Jongin replied. “Please feel free to drop it. I, on the other hand, should keep it.”

Baekhyun made a disagreeing noise. “Drop it,” he said firmly. “It’s just two years — I’m not big on honorifics unless the age difference is, like, more than, four. Both ways.”

“I might not be able to do that right away,” Jongin warned Baekhyun. He was so used to talking to people in honorifics, even when they were younger than himself. His mother had taught him that it was a way of keeping a safe distance while fulfilling his duty of showing respect. “Then, can I call you hyung? Baekhyun hyung?”

Baekhyun smiled at that. “Sounds good,” and it was the smile, it was the way he said the words that got Jongin feeling heavy. 

No doubt Baekhyun was gorgeous and talented and pretty much just the hottest thing out there, and never had Jongin thought he would be on the receiving end of Baekhyun’s flirtatious arrow. Baekhyun was famous for that. Famous (or infamous) for having sparks in his eyes when he looked directly at you, famous for teasing and prodding even the most unlikely people. He was famous for having everyone blush and marvel at how naturally seductive he was. That was his way of letting people know they weren’t special, some whispered. It was Baekhyun’s way of keeping people in line. It was all just an act. He was in the zone, he was being filmed and that was it. Nothing more.

“You still haven’t answered my question, Jongin.”

Jongin paused. “Oh! Umm, me? Well, I… like peace,” he said lamely. 

Baekhyun didn’t say anything, so Jongin felt like he was waiting for him to say more. 

“I like being with my family. My sister has a baby and I like looking after her. I like the holidays, where every morning I wake up to the smell of food and sounds of someone laughing or arguing over the tv,” Jongin said, the talk of his family was making him feel better, comfortable. 

“Do you go back to them every year?”

“Yeah, sometimes I’m late for a day, but yeah.”

Baekhyun hummed, looking ahead with a small smile. “And, what else?”

“Well, I’m pretty ordinary actually,” Jongin said, feeling nervous again. 

What if Baekhyun found him boring? He probably already did. Baekhyun was born and bred in, and for, this world. His father was a music producer, now the head of the company Baekhyun belonged to. His mother was an actress and a movie director, going strong and steady, even against the fresh blood, in her late forties. 

“I think ordinary is good,” Baekhyun said. “Please, continue,”

Well, if that was the case.

“I go for a jog,” Jongin started and Baekhyun snorted and laughed, but in a friendly way. “Then I have breakfast. I usually just heat up the previous night’s dinner. I try to get some cleaning done since I live alone and I don’t want to hire anyone for that.”

“Why not?”

“I just… it’s embarrassing, and I don’t want a stranger touching my stuff. I never even liked having guests when I was a kid.”

“Did you have lots of them?”

“Well, no.” Jongin tried to remember a time where his family actually got strangers to come to their home. “There was that one time, my uncle and his wife came. My mom didn’t like the wife, so I think it was the first time I saw her. She was all smiley but it creeped me out.”

“Why?”

“It looked... fake,” Jongin admitted. “And she proved my instinct right when she left my uncle alone with their baby.”

“Why?” Baekhyun asked again, sounding genuinely interested.

“Well, she found a rich guy. At least, that’s what my Mom told me when I grew up and was ready for the family dirt,”

Baekhyun chucked at that and Jongin felt proud. He had just made Byun Baekhyun chuckle. He was alone in a labyrinth with Byun Baekhyun. He was alone with Baekhyun, whom he was now allowed to call  _ hyung _ .

“H-Hyung?” Jongin tried and swallowed heavily. 

Baekhyun turned to Jongin and looked at him, his eyes piercing and demanding. “Yes?”

“I… I just wanted to say that — call you hyung, I mean.” Jongin said and looked down at his feet, feeling silly. 

Warm fingertips touched his chin and caressed him gently, softly. Jongin closed his eyes; it felt good. 

“Jongin,” Baekhyun whispered, and Jongin was surprised to hear him so close. “Look at me.”

Jongin obeyed. He opened his eyes and found himself looking straight into Baekhyun’s. 

Baekhyun was right in front of him, looking at him with those eyes of his. “Do you like me?” he said.

Jongin nodded. It was barely a movement, but Baekhyun caught it since he still held Jongin’s face in his fingers.

“Do you want to kiss me?”

“Yes,” Jongin said, he almost leaned in then. Almost put his arms around Baekhyun and pulled him to himself, or almost cupped Baekhyun’s pretty face in his hands and took a hold of those lips of his.

But Baekhyun just said, “I see,” and pulled away, leaving Jongin feeling colder than he ever felt since they entered the labyrinth.

“Come, I wanna show you something. It shouldn’t be long.” Baekhyun had started to walk again, so Jongin hurriedly followed suit.

Jongin decided to follow Baekhyun’s lead and acted normal, like nothing happened. Like he didn’t just admit his feelings for Baekhyun, confessed how he wanted to kiss him, only to have Baekhyun calmly say  _ I see _ and walk away. 

“Tell me more?” Baekhyun said after a minute. “What else you like to do, a story from your past, or if you don’t mind, more family dirt?”

Jongin was halfway through opening his mouth to tell him the tale of the three year old him and his cousin blaming a pigeon for the broken toy, when he got an idea.

“How about you tell me a story,” he suggested. “and I’ll tell you, and so on and on.”

Baekhyun glanced at him sideways, a small smile on his pretty face. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

“Anything,” Jongin said truthfully and caught Baekhyun giving him another look. A curious one. Before he could think of what Baekhyun’s expression was like though, Baekhyun spoke.

“You know Oh Sehun?”

“Yes?” 

“He’s a good guy.”

“... I see.”

“I know he looks cold and speaks weird and ticks all the boxes of the ‘bitch list’, but he’s actually a pretty decent guy. He’s clean, doesn’t do drugs and if you’re honest with him, he’ll be too. I think you can do well with a friend like that, don’t you think?”

“Yes, thank you,” Jongin said, confused as to why Baekhyun was telling him this. Did he just simply wanted to let Jongin know of a good guy that he could befriend, or was Oh Sehun an option that Baekhyun wanted Jongin to consider as someone to kiss?

“But that wasn’t a story — merely a good word about a friend,” Jongin said and was pleased to see Baekhyun smile grudgingly, like he was impressed with Jongin’s audacity but didn’t want to admit it so easily.

  
“Okay, then. When I was in middle school, I almost died,” Baekhyun said, turning left. “Our entire school went on a trip to this mountain. I was so excited that I wasn’t really paying attention as I ran down the path on our way back down.”

They came to a halt as three choices opened up for them. “Hmm, what do you think?”

“I’d say right or middle,” Jongin said.

“Why not left?”

Jongin shrugged. “No reason,”

They went through the middle.

“So, not able to stop myself, I just — without thinking — jumped over the barrier and almost fell down to my death. My classmate, who was running after me, caught me just in time and pulled me down with her. I fell on top of her, she fell on a small rock and her shoulder blade was hurt really badly.”

“Was she okay? I mean, afterwards?”

“Oh, yes,” Baekhyun nodded. “No lasting damage. My teacher let me come to the hospital with her. At one point, I was left alone with her in the room. They were going to have her stay for the night, see? Just in case, since she hit her head pretty hard too. 

I had my first kiss that evening. Well, more like two shy pecks.”

Baekhyun stopped and looked up at the sky, Jongin followed suit. “She was my first love. I should thank her, when we meet again. She let me have this special thing.”

“That sounds like something from a drama,”

“Pretty much everyone’s life can be made into a drama,” Baekhyun said. “It’s just that most people don’t find their own lives to be interesting. Your turn now, if you please.”

  
“Should I tell you about my first love, too?”

“If that’s what you want,” Baekhyun said easily.

They turned right and they turned left, then another left. Still, Jongin couldn’t think of what he wanted to tell Baekhyun about his past. 

When they took yet another left, Jongin thought it was now or never, and spoke. 

“When I was in middle school, I got into all the dance competitions I could find. I dragged my parents all over the country. I think I was pretty good for a middle schooler because I was always placed in the top five. Then I was qualified to enter this huge competition that was organised by the best art school of the country. The winners would get scholarships throughout high school, they said. My father took some time off from his work to accompany me. He would cook me meals and take me to the training center. Whatever I needed, he got them for me. Then after two months of dancing pretty much everyday, the D-day arrived.”

“You won.”

Jongin grinned, still very proud and fond of the memory. “I won.”

“And how was this best art school in the country? Worth the sweat?” Baekhyun asked politely, as if he didn’t know exactly what school Jongin was talking about, as if he wasn’t the only child of the founders.

“Yes — wait, your turn,”

Baekhyun tutted. “It’s no fun if you won’t let me push you around a bit,”

“I’d let you do anything to me,” 

Baekhyun stopped. Jongin froze on his spot. He hadn’t meant to say that outloud. After a gruesome moment of silence, Baekhyun graced him with a small nod and continued his way. “Maybe I’ll hold you to that,”

“Yesterday, I tried making the _Dalgona_ _coffee_ ,” Baekhyun said. “I stirred and stirred. My arm fell off but the mixture never turned thick.”

“Did you do it with your hand? I heard it takes at least half an hour with just your hand.”

“Huh. No wonder, then. I only did it for, like ten minutes. Maybe less.”

“Maybe you can try it again with a hand mixer?”

Baekhyun’s lower lip came to cover his upper one, as he thought. “I don’t know if I have one,” he said then. “I’ll have to look around. I don’t really cook, or spend that much time at home.” he added, looking shy for the first time.

Jongin could have offered to make the coffee for Baekhyun, but thought that that would be too suggestive, or too forward. Not a good move considering he was rejected just a few minutes ago.

“My turn now?” he said instead.

Baekhyun made a cute little agreeing noise.

“The best art school in the country was better than my wildest dreams,” Jongin said. “The teachers were all very good at their jobs. There was zero tolerance for bullying and any kind of harassment. The sex education was very good, now that I think about it. I thought it was way too intense and embarrassing, but I realize now that it was just the way it needed to be.

“The classes were interesting. The food was good. I loved the hour long lunch break. I also loved the hour long reading time they gave you. All students were well supported. The more I think about it, the more thankful I feel. I was lucky. 

“The students seemed to be the best part for me though. Everyone was so hardworking and passionate. Nobody was ashamed of anything they did. Not that there was anything shameful going on. I just — the kids were wholesome. Earnestly trying to figure out what to do with the amount of energy and ideas they had in them.”

“They really were,” Baekhyun said, with a small smile on his face, clearly, like Jongin, remembering their good old school days.

“There was a senior I really liked,” Jongin continued, his voice going a little bit shy and softer. “He was this really bright student, who was always making jokes and running around teasing girls. The light of our school, really.

“I never talked to him. I wanted to, but we didn’t have any common friends and he was two years older than me. Still, I was happy to just be able to see him from time to time. But then one day, in my second year, I was just going to the vending machine to get something cold to drink, when I saw him there, alone. With some strange luck, the machine had given him two Ko Ko Bops, instead of one that he ordered.”

Baekhyun gave him a quick look, but didn’t say anything.

“He gave me the extra one. I thanked him and he said ‘sure’ and he went away. He graduated a few days later and that was the last time,” Jongin breathed out heavily. “The last time, I saw… my first love.”

Baekhyun came to a halt and pointed. “Look, we’re here.”

They were now at the heart of the labyrinth, and there stood the creepiest well — Jongin couldn’t have imagined it even if he tried.

“It’s too tall,” Baekhyun said, walking around the well. “Too wide. It’s my first time seeing a real well, but — do you know anything about wells?”

Jongin shook his head. “It’s also my first time seeing a real one. And the only well I remember seeing in movies is the one where the scary murderous girl comes out.”

“I hated that movie,” Baekhyun said airily, looking down into the well.

“Why?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “I hear that this well, though, grants you your wish if you’re not too greedy.”

“A local legend?”

“Yes. I read about it when the invitation for the show came.” Baekhyun shook his head. “Trust her to find one of the most secluded and oldest buildings of the entire world and then use it to host her show.”

They both looked at the mansion looming over the labyrinth. It had vines growing all over its walls, and all but the ground floor’s windows were pitch black. Jongin had heard that the stairs were deemed unstable, so only the ground floors were thoroughly cleaned for months as the showcase approached. Jongin liked that they had left some of the histories untouched. Even some of the wallpapers were still ripped and some stains were deemed too unique to wipe out. It made the whole show’s atmosphere something straight out of a mystery movie, where someone rich and important would be found murdered in peculiar circumstances.

“So, what’s the legend?”

“It said this place used to belong to the only daughter of a Japanese aristocrat and a humble Korean scholar. Since her parents had already passed, the lady took the decision by herself and married the scholar, even though many of her maids and servants begged her not to. They lived far away from the war but aided whomever came to pass their land. Even though he was unfit to fight, the scholar was called for the war — some say it was the work of jealous friends from his past. Two months later, the lady was notified of his death.

The war got worse and it was no longer safe for the lady — a Japanese — to stay here. The Koreans wanted her dead, the Japanese wanted her to marry again. One night, a group of men came for her and demanded that she come with them for ‘a talk.’

The lady refused to open her gates and fled with her infant daughter. When she got on the ship that would take her back to Japan, she realized that the baby she was holding was not hers, but of her most loyal maid’s.

The maid knew her lady wanted her daughter to stay and grew up in the place she was born. The lady was also secretly hoping her husband was still alive, and would come back to them after the war. That’s why she was so adamant on staying.”

Baekhyun sighed and ran his finger through the mouth of the well, his beautiful finger tracing round patterns.

“After that night, the maid wrote to a young man of an influential Korean family, who was the lady and the scholar’s friend. She told him what he had done. He took pity on the baby and took over this place. Only in name, he was the lord. It was the only way to protect the estate from being given to some other.

The real lady of the house grew up knowing who she really was and as she grew older and older, things started to get dangerous. For she looked so much like her mother. No matter how much the maid insisted the girl was hers, people started to suspect the girl’s true comings. In no time at all, her existence became an open secret.

The young girl looked after her land and people well. She was smart and kind and very interested in literature. She made sure everyone who worked under her knew how to read and write. The workers had day offs every week — something unheard of in those days. And all the children were sent to school because she covered all the costs.”

“That’s amazing,” Jongin whispered, in awe.

“Indeed… When she was eighteen, some of the villagers had a little bit too much to drink one night and decided it would be brave and patriotic of them to kill the offspring of a Japanese.”

Jongin sighed.

“But the girl ran into this labyrinth and decided to take matters into her own hand, no matter how limited her choices were. She was not going to let them lay a single finger on her, see?”

Baekhyun looked down into the well.

“Did she jump?”

“Yes. They say that, before she jumped, she said she would always be here to help anyone who deserved it.

“Every single one of her workers lived a long, peaceful life. They are the ones who spread the tale — they said they were blessed by the true lady of the valley. Every year, they came here to hold a ritual for her honor and wished more good days to come.”

They were silent for a while, both looking into the endless, lightless hole in front of them, thinking.

“So, do you want to make a wish?”

Jongin nodded.

Baekhyun took out two flower petals from his jacket’s inner pocket and gave one of them to Jongin. He closed his eyes and was still for a few seconds, then he opened his eyes and dropped the petal down.

Jongin made his wish too. “I wish you peace,” He said. “and I hope you’ll meet your parents soon, if you haven’t already.”

  
  
  


The car ride back home was quiet but comfortable. When Baekhyun asked — oh so casually, as usual — if Jongin would like to come to his place, Jongin had accepted the offer without missing a beat. Jongin sent his manager back to the city alone, and hopped into Baekhyun’s car.

Baekhyun told him it was a two hour drive, so Jongin could rest, if he wanted to. Jongin thought he was too nervous to sleep, but he found himself asleep within minutes after Baekhyun turned on the radio and settled for a cooking show. Something about Baekhyun’s smooth driving and the sound of something sizzling on a pan made him feel relaxed and safe.

Of course, Baekhyun lived on a high floor in a sleek, cold looking building. Jongin rubbed his eyes and followed Baekhyun into the elevator, which closed after them with a gentle  _ ding _ .

“Would you like something to drink? Wine? Beer? Water?”

“Just… water would be fine, thank you. Can I use the restroom?”

Baekhyun pointed at the hall to Jongin’s right and said, “The second door on your right.”

Jongin relieved himself and washed his hands thoroughly. Then he rinsed his mouth and looked up at himself in the mirror. His hair was still looking good — he thought he had ruined it with his little nap in the car; his make up from the show was starting to smidge around his eyes, but still… okay. He looked good. But was it enough for Byun Baekhyun?

Baekhyun was waiting for him in the living room, where a coffee table and an L shaped couch stood, looking like they were never used. The light was off but the open kitchen was emitting some sort of soft light from the ceiling, so it wasn’t dark.

Jongin finished his glass of water right away, unable to really comprehend the reality.

“Would you like to have some more?” Baekhyun asked, taking the glass from Jongin and taking it back to the kitchen.

“No, thank you… hyung.”

Jongin stood with his ears burning and stomach clenching tightly as Baekhyun came back to stand right in front of him. 

“Then, would you still like to kiss me?”

“Yes,” Jongin breathed and leaned down, hoping and praying Baekhyun won’t walk away this time.

Baekhyun didn’t. He wrapped an arm around Jongin’s waist and it roamed over his back, gentle and curious. His other hand came to softly rest against Jongin’s face.

His lips were soft and his tongue was the most teasing little thing Jongin had ever got the pleasure to taste. Of course Baekhyun was good at kissing. He was perfect like that.

“Would you like to stay, Jongin?” Baekhyun asked and then nibbled on Jongin’s lips. He would sometimes gently bite and pull, but then he would lick his lips and push his tongue into Jongin’s.

It was hard to talk when Jongin was so busy having the best kiss of his life. But it was important that he did. “Yes… please, if I can.”

Baekhyun led him to his bedroom with little steps that allowed them to keep kissing on the way. Jongin felt his mind buzzing with Baekhyun’s taste and scent.

Jongin’s shirt fell off before he was pushed onto the bed, and Baekhyun’s hands wandered around his chest and back, leaving Jongin’s skin erupting goosebumps all over.

Then his pants were gone, then his socks and underwear. Jongin used his elbows to support himself up and watched Baekhyun take off his clothes with a lump in his throat. 

If this was a dream, Jongin thought, he would never need to wake up.

The curtains were open and the room was bright with the moon’s light. Baekhyun never took his eyes off Jongin as he shrugged out of his clothes. All of his movements were elegant and deliberate. The confident and calm nature of Baekhyun was so breathtaking, Jongin had to remind himself to keep breathing. In and out. In and out.

Soon Jongin found himself unable to remember how to breathe as Baekhyun rocked into him with a well controlled pace. It was fast and smooth and always, always spot on.

Baekhyun was not much of a talker in bed, but he was plenty gentle and affectionate. He had taken his time preparing Jongin even though Jongin was starting to beg Baekhyun, telling him that he was ready. He was alert and very intuitive. He kissed Jongin almost non stop and would push his sweaty hair back for him.

Jongin was gladly losing his mind, and for a moment he saw the moon. It was high up in the sky, watching Baekhyun make love to him — because that’s what it felt like. It was so beautiful, and a strange sense of euphoria and peace swept over him.

“Look at me,” Baekhyun whispered tilting Jongin’s head back.

Jongin did. He looked at Baekhyun, who was beautiful beyond words and addictive beyond any imagination. “Kiss me,” he pleaded.


End file.
